The Right Brownie for at Least for Right Now: Malted "Forever" Brownies

In addition to Snacking Cakes, my husband also gave me a copy of Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person cookbook for my birthday. I had a good feeling about the cookbook from the first time I flipped through it -- it's got an interesting mix of recipes that seem fresh yet accessible. The first recipe I tried from the book was Claire's "Malted 'Forever' Brownies." 

 

I have made a lot of brownies in my time -- so many that almost ten years ago I conducted a brownie tasteoff at my office -- and because I have a handful of favorites, a new brownie recipe has to seem particularly interesting to get me to try it. In this case, the addition of malted milk powder caught my eye, even though the recipe lists it as an optional ingredient. Also, Claire explains in the headnote that she calls these her "forever" brownies because she's not sure if she'll ever make any other brownie recipe again. That was enough to convince me I should give the recipe a try.

 

This is a one-bowl recipe. You bloom Dutch cocoa powder in boiling water; add bittersweet chocolate, butter, and oil, and warm the mixture over a pot of simmering water until the chocolate and butter melt; let the mixture cool until lukewarm; add granulated sugar and dark brown sugar; whisk in an egg, egg yolks, and vanilla; and add flour, malted milk powder, and salt. The recipe instructs you to whisk in the dry ingredients slowly until combined, and then to whisk everything vigorously until the batter is very thick, a full 45 seconds. This instruction is contrary to all of my brownie instincts, because generally if you over-mix brownie batter, you will end up with a cakey result. But I followed the directions precisely. At the end, the batter was so thick that whisking it vigorously for even just 45 seconds was exhausting. Finally, I folded in milk chocolate and transferred to batter to a parchment-lined pan to bake. 

After you bake the brownies and let them cool at room temperature, you chill them before cutting -- Claire says that this results in a chewier texture. When I sliced the cold brownies, they were extremely fudgy. I think they would have been impossible to cut neatly if they had not be chilled. I actually preferred eating these chilled, when the chocolate chips (I used Cacao Barry Lactée Supérieure 38% pistoles) had a satisfying snap. The recipe says you can store these at room temperature, but when I left them at room temp for a day, they became soft enough that they were difficult to pick up without deforming them. They were still delicious at room temperature, but I just liked the firmer, snappier cold version.

Even though I couldn't specifically taste the malted milk powder, I think it added some toasty flavor notes. This is a great and very satisfying brownie, but I'm definitely not swearing off my other favorite recipes. However, if you are a fan of an ultra-fudgy brownie with a great texture, this might be your forever brownie.

Recipe: "Malted 'Forever' Brownies" from Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz.